A few thoughts on effective comparison

The following is a realization I recently had. I feel that this blog posting can be useful for those who often compare themselves to others.

In the past I have often found myself comparing myself to others. A number of times I have become disappointed as a result. I then asked myself, Why do I even compare myself to others? To me, as we saw with Darwinism, I think there is a human tendency and it is human nature to constantly compete and evolve. Part of this competition and evolution relies and relates to other humans. I think wanting to compete and evolve is great, and that's ultimately how one becomes the best. But then I found myself hung up on the last part of the sentence above, "how one becomes the best". I asked myself what that even means, as it is pretty vague. To me, it meant a number of things: how one becomes better than someone else, than everyone else, and better than thyself. To me through reflection, becoming better than oneself should be the ultimate goal. At the end of the day, two people are extremely different, so it really is not fair or accurate to judge person A's performance to person B's performance. We all are so different in so many ways that comparing yourself to someone else, does not seem right or accurate. Rather than comparing yourself to others and either being happy or disappointed as a result. I THINK THE KEY IS COMPARE YOURSELF TO YOURSELF. If you can become a better version of yourself day in and day out, that is what truly should matter. I just recently took up golf and in comparing myself to others, for better or for worse, I saw that this was an awful indicator of how I actually am improving and doing as a golfer. But when I compared my score today, with my score yesterday, with my score last week, I really got a better indication of how I am as a golfer. Each time I go, I improve a little bit, but compared to my buddies who have been golfing longer, or close to the same time, I felt inferior. When I took a look at my own performance though, I felt a lot happier and better about how I am improving.

I think the big takeaway is focus on bettering yourself and use others as an indicator with how you are doing relative to others, but don't focus solely on comparing yourself with others.

Every human is wired and built very differently. No two people ever are going through the exact same situation. Do not be discouraged by others who you perceive to be doing better than yourself. Work hard and focus on doing something today better than you did yesterday, and that is all that matters. At the end of the day, whatever it is you want to do or accomplish, do it your own way, when you want to do it, and how you want to do it. Ultimately you will be a lot happier as a result.

Goodluck to you all in any endeavor, goal, or accomplishment you set out to achieve. I believe in you and know you will be successful. If there is anything I could ever do for any of you, big or small, please do contact me. I would love to be of assistance. Cheers to us all bettering ourselves!